National Hurricane Preparedness Week: May 6-12

National Hurricane Preparedness Week is May 6-12. Are you ready if a hurricane hits our Town?

Here are some facts on how hurricanes are named:

Native Americans called these storms Hurakons, after “a great spirit who commanded the east wind.” Spanish explorers adopted the word and then began giving hurricanes the names of patron saints on whose feast days the storms occurred. Later, hurricanes were identified by their longitude and latitude.

A weatherman in Australia is credited with being the first person to name a tropical storm after a female. By World War II, meteorologists in the U.S. military named storms after their girlfriends and wives. Atlantic hurricanes began to be officially given women’s names starting in 1954 and men’s names in 1979.

Hurricanes’ names are selected by the World Meteorological Organization. Every six years, the list of names begins again! However, the names of especially destructive hurricanes are usually retired. See the “retired” tropical storm and hurricane names.